Chicago filmmaker Frank V. Ross’ “Tiger Tail In Blue,” which hasn’t made the festival circuit, is his sixth feature. While it’s a shame the Downers Grove resident hasn’t gotten more attention for his work, the keenly observant “Tiger Tail,” demonstrates well the gently idiosyncratic voice heard in earlier films like “Audrey the Trainwreck” (2010). It’s an earnest depiction of drifting young married life, telling the story of Christopher (Ross) and Melody (Rebecca Spence), their schedule-juggling lives. He’s writing a first novel and working as a waiter, where he’s distracted by a co-worker, Brandy (Megan Mercier). Unlike many microbudget filmmakers, like Chicagos’s Joe Swanberg, he works from script, not improv. He’s got a lot more work in front of him, I hope, at which point that voice will be ready to pin down. For now, a Midwestern rare flower has already bloomed. Even tossed-off lines, “I’ve been thinking of Doritos for like an hour,” have the acid tang of recorded life, rather than micro-budgeted mini-drama about nothing at all. (“Tiger Tail” was one of the five nominees for the 2012 Gotham Awards’ “Best Picture Not Playing at a Theater Near You,” for which I was a juror.) 76m. (Ray Pride)
“Tiger Tail In Blue” plays Saturday and Wednesday at Siskel. Ross will appear.
Ray Pride is Newcity’s Senior Editor and Film Critic. He is a contributing editor of Filmmaker magazine.
Ray’s history of Chicago Ghost Signs is planned for publication next year. Previews of the project are on Twitter and on Instagram. More photography on Instagram.
Blue, Blue Eclectic Blue: O Blue Come In A movie consisting of sound and music but also an insistent field of blue placed on celluloid, winding past bright projected light.
Seeing The Elephant: A Review Of Babylon The boisterous, brawling yet melancholy "Babylon," is a variation on film history, but more drawing for drama. It's gaudy and mean, celebratory and sorrowful.
Heart: A Review of Soul The real world is soulful, too, in Pixar's bountiful life of the mind.
Fine Line: A Review Of Shortcomings It's a season for the comeuppance of a curmudgeon in Randall Park's smart, biting "Shortcomings," adapted by Adrian Tomine from his graphic novel of the same name.
RECOMMENDED
